April 10, 2022 Worship

 

Pioneer Presbyterian Church

Palm Sunday

10:00 a.m.                                                                                                              April 10, 2022

 

PRELUDE

 

Processional Hymn:                       “All Glory, Laud, and Honor”                           Glory #196

 

WELCOME AND OPENING PRAYER

 

CHORAL INTROIT

 

*CALL TO WORSHIP:   Based On Luke 19:28-40

 

     Humble and riding on a donkey, we greet you, Lord Christ. Acclaimed by crowds and

     caroled by children, we cheer you.

 

          Moving from the peace of the countryside to the centers of power, we honor and

          adore you: Jesus Christ the Lord.

 

     You give majesty a new face; you give us a glorious new song to sing.

 

          With all your people from every time and place, with voices united, we cry:

          Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!

 

CALL TO CONFESSION

 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

 

           O Lord, who on this day entered the rebellious city that later rejected you: We

           confess that our wills are as rebellious as Jerusalem’s; our faith is often more

           show than substance; our hearts need cleansing. Have mercy on us, Son of David,

           Savior of the world. Help us to place at your feet all that we have and all that we

           are, trusting you to forgive what is sinful, to heal what is broken, to welcome our

           praises, and to receive us as your beloved children. Amen.

      

     ASSURANCE OF GOD’S FORGIVENESS

 

           Friends: Hear the Word of the Lord from Psalm 118: “Let those who fear the Lord say,

     his steadfast love endures forever. Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord    

     answered me and set me free.

The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.

           I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.

    In Christ, God answers us and sets us free!

 

PASSING THE PEACE

 

 In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven! Thanks be to God.

                    Sharing of the Peace of Christ

                     May the peace of Christ be with you.

           And also with you.

                     Let us extend the peace of Christ in heart and prayer to one another.

 

GLORY BE TO THE FATHER

 

                     Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was

                     in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

 

TIME WITH CHILDREN

 

CHOIR ANTHEM                 “The Palms”                                                   by J. Faure

 

GOSPEL LESSON:   Luke 19:28-40

 

MESSAGE:                       “Three Parades in Jerusalem”              Pastor Daryl R. Wilson

 Today is Palm Sunday—the day when hope rode into town. Life-changing, revolutionary hope. And maybe, just possibly, more hope than you really want. It was Passover season in Jerusalem, the capitol city. All the VIPs were in town for the festivities. In those days the people would go out to the city gates to greet the arriving dignitaries, or, as was often the case, to stare at them in sullen resentment. And the powers-that-be loved to put on a parade, if for no other reason than to remind the people of how important and powerful they were.

 

King Herod usually stayed away from Jerusalem, but politics required that he be in town at Passover. He was very rich, so you can imagine the entourage that accompanied him. Fine horses. Exotic women. All the king’s riches paraded by.

 

Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, preferred to stay on the coast in Caesarea, but he also had to be in Jerusalem for the celebration. Passover celebrated the liberation of the Hebrews from the oppression of Pharaoh. Pilate knew that he couldn’t leave the city to the Zealots and other troublemakers who’d like nothing better than to embarrass Rome by protesting against the oppression of Caesar. So he rode into town with Roman power on full display. The great golden statue of an eagle led the column, followed by the pennants and battle flags of Rome. Then came the trumpeters, infantrymen, cavalry, and battle chariots. At the end of the parade, there was a ragtag group of prisoners in chains. Maybe a few Zealots left over from last year’s protest.

Parades in small-town America celebrate something special, like the Fourth of July or a Harvest Festival. Parades in Jerusalem were more of a political statement than a civic celebration. When Herod and Pilate came to town, one with the symbols of wealth and the other with the symbols of power, they were saying, “This is why we’re in charge. We’re holding what’s important.” And about that last part at least, they were right. They were holding something very important.

 

One thing Republicans, Democrats, and independents agree on is that money and power are critical to the future of our nation and the world. Jesus would agree. He talked about money (and the proper attitude toward it) all the time, called his followers to be good stewards of it, and believed it was so important that it ought to be shared with everyone. So let’s spare the world’s poor from any high-sounding talk about how money and power aren’t important. Of course they are!

 

Please listen carefully: Bread for the World reports that nearly one billion people will go to bed hungry tonight, including 49 million in the United States. Did you know that 16,000 children will die today from hunger-related causes? That’s one child every five seconds. It’s true—and it happens 365 days a year! Yet, the rich and powerful continue to hoard the world’s goods and resources like there’s no tomorrow, no consequences for our obscene imbalance of money and power.   Jesus knew money and power shape the world and (in many ways) determine the fate of every person on this planet. As his disciples, how then shall we live? In whom (or what) shall we trust? If you count on money or power to save your own life, you’ll lose everything, including your soul. If you use them for things that make a difference in the world, then you’ll find your life.

See, Herod and Pilate were addicts. Slaves to their avarice. They could never get enough money and power. Herod was a puppet king of Caesar. Pilate was Caesar’s political appointee. Both were beholden to someone else for all that they had. All their decisions and energies were directed toward placating the emperor and seizing all the wealth and power within their grasp. Parading by in their regal pomp and pageantry, Herod and Pilate tell us to grab everything we can. Strive to get more. Strive to make your dreams come true. Strive to make life more comfortable and secure. Strive to protect yourself from an unknown future. Strive, strive, strive! If you must step over others, so be it. The poor can fend for themselves and the weak deserve what they get, which is nothing. But the secret that Herod, Pilate, and Goldman Sachs don’t want us to know is that enough is never enough. Money and power are potent narcotics. The more you have, the more you crave, and every day you live in fear of not having enough.

 

So, Herod and Pilate paraded, strived, hoarded all the goodies in sight. And to what end? Today, we remember them as vain, empty men, hollow souls who crucified the world’s real hope. And mighty Caesar in far-away Rome? The last time you gave him a thought probably came when you ordered salad. Would you like anchovies with that? These keepers of money and power killed the man who warned, “One day your soul will be required of you. And these things you’ve collected, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20). Twenty-one centuries later, some things haven’t changed. People are still addicted. We’re still afraid. We have so many bills to pay, so many reasons to worry that we won’t have enough, so many uncertainties about the future. How do we get over the fear that causes our addiction to power and wealth?

One year in Jerusalem, there was a third Passover parade. No trumpets, no military flyovers. Just a single man, Jesus of Nazareth, carried by a young donkey, slowly descending from the Mount of Olives. Rumors had it he’d performed some astonishing miracles. Giving sight to the blind. Casting out evil spirits. Healing people with spinal cord injuries. Feeding thousands with a little boy’s brown bag lunch. Raising a little girl from the dead and giving her back to her parents. And so, a parade broke out. Scores of people singing and shouting their praise to God, “for all the deeds of power that they had seen.”

 

Well, yes! Sing and shout dear friends, for the rumors are true! This man raises the dead! Therefore, he’s the one who can liberate us from our fear and striving. We’re so afraid of losing our dreams, our health, our relationships, and other things that make up a life. But Jesus says the way to find real life isn’t to work harder, run faster, or hold tighter to what you have. No, only by letting go of our own plans for this life are we able to receive life as a grace. If we insist on achieving life on our own, we’ll miss out on grace, which only comes as a gift. Holding on to what we cannot keep is the one thing that prevents God from giving us what we cannot lose.

 

Trust me on this: 100% of all people will lose everything they’ve worked so hard to get: houses, cars, influence, prestige, and fame. 100% of all people will lose their money, their health, and their loved ones. Even in the United States, there’s a 100% mortality rate. You won’t beat those odds, no matter how much wealth, power, or righteousness you collect. Every single thing you’re afraid of losing, you’ll lose. So why waste your fleeting days worrying and trying to hold on? Get it over with! Choose today to die with Christ, that you may live in freedom and joy.

By the way, have you ever wondered why Jesus chose a little donkey for his grand entrance into the capitol city? What sort of king does that? Not Herod, Pilate, or Caesar. No, the King who comes on a colt is one who’s truly free. Free from addictions to power and wealth, free from compulsion to please the crowd, free from the need to control others, free to show the world that true greatness is found in self-giving love, free to give up his life so that others may live.

 

Jesus was free even from the people he came to serve. His friends warned him to stay away from Jerusalem, while many in the crowd hoped to crown him king. But having committed himself to the Father, Jesus was free from earthly fears and kingly dreams alike. Only then could he change the world. Only then could he become the world’s Savior.

 

It’s pretty tough to make a difference in an addicted world if you’re still an addict yourself. But if by God’s grace you begin to live as one who is truly free in Christ—free from addiction and free from fear—you’ll be downright revolutionary. Why, if you’re free from fear, you could even change your corner of the world.  

 

O God, by your Holy Spirit, so bind us into Christ who came to die for us,

that we may live with him, as a people who are finally free

to share in the great revolution of your

coming Kingdom.

Amen.

 

*HYMN OF RESPONSE:        “Ride On! Ride On in Majesty”                      Glory #198

                                                            (to the tune of “On Jordan’s Banks the Baptist’s Cry”)

 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER

 

                                  Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come,

                thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread;

                and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into

                temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power,

                and the glory, forever. Amen.

 

CALL TO THE OFFERING

 

*DOXOLOGY

 

          Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise God all creatures here below;

          Praise God above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION

 

*CLOSING HYMN:                 “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna”                           Glory #197

 

CHARGE AND BENEDICTION

 

 

LOOKING AHEAD

                       

Today following service	M & M meets
Today 1:00 p.m.	Prayer Shawl meets
4/17    following service	Worship and Music meets
5/14    tba	Community Cleanup (541) 589-5043

 

 

PRAYER CARE:

For the people of Ukraine, Ralph Sawyer with serious health issues, Blaze Carol Sawyer’s nephew with a head injury, Summer Bauer undergoing cancer treatments, Darlene Wingfield, Mary and Ray Swarthout, George and Joyce Sahlberg, Margaret Dunbar dealing with declining health issues. Our thoughts and prayers are with our friends and family near and far.

LECTIONARY For  4/17/22:   Isaiah   65:17-25; Palm 118:1-2, 14-24; 1 Corinthians 15:19-26; John 20:1-18